How to Create an Invoice For a Sold Art Work

Especially during Hong Kong Art Basel Art Fair working for a successful prints and editions gallery. Dealing with established contemporary artists and selling multiples, you’re literally churning out the invoices.

I’ve invoiced in Hong Kong Dollars, US Dollars, Euros, Pounds, CHF (that’s a Swiss Franc) and probably some other types of currencies, I’ve invoiced VAT applicable art works, VAT exempt art works then there’s the secondary market sales, US State sales tax, ARR… The list goes on.

In this article I’m going to explain how to create a sales invoice for an art work you’ve sold from your studio directly to a private buyer. So let’s get into it.

Firstly, what is an invoice?

Invoice is a document that you send to a buyer or customer/client once an art work sale is agreed with the details of the sold art work on it.

Why is invoicing important?

An invoice is important because it is a legally binding document. Once an invoice is issued, it must be settled or paid. When I was working in galleries, lots of clients would ask for “Certificates of Authenticity” to prove that the art work is genuinely an original by the artist that had made it but an invoice is really all you need. The invoice proves the work is truly by you, when the work was bought and the value of the work at the time of the sale.

Also supplying an invoice to your buyer shows that you’re a professional: you take your artistic practice seriously, you are demonstrating that you are managing your books and you have invoiced many times before! You are a pro.

You’ll also need copies of these when filing your tax return so keep digital copies stored in an organised place somewhere on your computer.

Creating the invoice

Always have a standard invoice template saved on your computer or on your Google drive rather than knocking up a new invoice from scratch each time and changing the design, this not only presents you as a professional but is good for brand consistency and convenience. You can download a free invoicing template I’ve created here.

What your invoice should include

• The buyers name
• The buyers location and address
• Invoicing number and reference
• The artwork details
  • (title, medium, dimensions, your own stock number if you are that organised!, if it is in an edition and the edition number, whether it comes framed or not i.e. “framed” or “unframed”)
  • A line indicating when the money is due (see exact wording on template)
  • Bank details or Paypal details

  Invoice numbers

  An invoice number is an essential way to uniquely identify each invoice issued. Invoice numbers should be included at the top of each invoice and should be numbered in consecutive order. This is going to help with your accounts later in the year and it’s keeping your business organised. Start at 1, your first sale or a rounded number like 100 and always double check before sending the invoice to your buyers to make sure it’s been updated!

  Date on invoice

  The date on your invoice should reflect the date that you issue and send the invoice. Ideally you want to send the invoice the same day that you create it! If you date your invoice and forget to send it, and you send it the next day, this is fine but in any case, for accounting purposes, the date should also have a running correlation with your invoice number.

  Payment terms on invoice

  Be as clear as possible where you’d like the payment to be made and which payment methods you accept. I like to include details for International payments on all of my invoices as I work with artists all over the world. You might want to do the same. You’ll see the format of these details in the downloadable invoice template.

  Titling your invoice

  An often overlooked step!

  I like to title my invoices like this:

  Invoice 100_Martha May Ronson_Client’s Name

  Be organised, be consistent. Always include the word “invoice” in the title of your document as well as the number (this is going to be an amazing help when searching through emails and your files to locate past sent invoices). Include your name (as this is useful for their records) and include your buyers full name (useful for your records).

  Sending the invoice

  Whether you’re creating the invoice in Microsoft Word, InDesign or on Apple Pages, export the file as a PDF and always send as a PDF attached to an invoice. This is because we don’t want the buyer on the receiving end having the ability to edit the file. Most people check their emails on their handheld devices now and so, PDFs are compatible to view on most smart phones whereas word docs and apple pages docs don’t always open. It avoids any weird format display changes also, so stick with the PDF!

  Note:

  When you start making big sales then I recommend password protecting your invoices prior to sending.

  Hooray!

  You’re done! Well sort of. Once you’ve received payment from the sale of the art work, always notify your buyer and let them know that it’s hit your bank account. Issue a receipt if they ask for one… You can easily do this by removing the invoice number, bank details, payment terms and write “RECEIPT” at the top of the page, give the receipt a new date and insert a line when the payment was made:

  Payment received in full by (bank transfer/Paypal/payment method) on 1 Jan 2020

  Every time you make a sale and invoice a buyer or client, remember to keep track of your sales by recording them in a sales sheet. Have you had a recent sale success? I’d love to hear about it!